When Car Set-Up and Balance is Everything…

James Burge’s assault on the NSW Formula Ford Championship continues in the second round this weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park.

His Listec Duratec WIL 013 Formula Ford is some sort of a weapon. The Duratec cars are seriously quick – some 3 ½ seconds a lap quicker at Wakefield than the Kent engine FFords.

James is a CAMS NSW Champion in Superkarts, and returning to a track he knows well.

When Car Set-Up and Balance is Everything…

James has had too much understeer, and the Listech team have worked with him using our Weight Transfer Worksheet to get balance suited to his driving style.

It all starts with getting the numbers into our Racing Car Technology Weight Transfer Worksheet™. We are calculating and matching suspension frequencies (a measure of suspension stiffness) front and rear, and calculating the weight transfer distribution that we know (all things being equal) will balance the car. All done with simple to do weights and measurements - then enter the data into our "fill in the blanks" spreadsheet.

There are just a few things to get your head around. Modern Formula Fords are incredibly stiff in roll, while spring frequencies (ride stiffness) should remain just as you would expect for any regular race car. Why are they so roll stiff? It’s all about the initial response of the car – makes the turn-in instant.

There does not appear to be any performance downside to the high roll stiffness. It's all good. There is less need to play with high-end adjustable shock absorbers (they won't be working in roll anyway).

The baseline set-up required for the front - a big change towards softer for the front, mono spring and a change to the softest roll setting (still mighty stiff, by the way!). Rear springs were good and a quantum step up in stiffness for the rear adjustable anti-roll bar was needed.

Importantly, James could now get a noticeable change in balance with the in-car adjustable anti-roll bar. With just one click on the in-car lever adjustment, James could get a noticeable increase in understeer. This is useful for the high-speed corners. For instance, at Turn 1 at Sydney Motorsport Park, he could use it to get some extra stability, and then go back to his preferred balance straight after, for the rest of the circuit.

You can get good balance too. Doesn't matter what race or road car you have....

New Course in Suspension Set-Up with the Weight Transfer Worksheet™….

Gives you access to all the Weight Transfer Worksheets™ for 99% of the cars out there.

Get a Good Baseline Set-Up – Grip at the Tyres and Balance for Oversteer/Understeer.